Red Bull Engineers Issue Apology To Sergio Perez Amid Performance Struggles

Saajan Jogia | 7 Hours Ago

May 5, 2024; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Red Bull Racing driver Sergio Perez (11) walks in the paddock before the F1 Miami Grand Prix at Miami International Autodrome. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-Imagn Images / Peter Casey-Imagn Images

Red Bull driver Sergio Perez revealed that his engineers finally admitted to the RB20’s balance issues, apologizing after a challenging mid-season period where he had been blamed for the performance slump. Despite this, the Mexican driver is grateful for their support and for ultimately identifying the root of the problem.

Perez's drop in form after the Chinese Grand Prix became more evident as Max Verstappen continued to battle at the front of the F1 grid. As a result, he came under fire from all directions, especially after his Red Bull contract was renewed in June for the next two years.

According to Perez, the balance issue with his RB20 had worsened months before it became evident on Verstappen's car. Despite raising the concern with his team, Perez found himself blamed for not meeting expectations, frequently facing criticism from Red Bull's senior advisor, Helmut Marko.

However, it wasn't until the Dutchman started to endure challenges with his title contender that the Milton Keynes outfit woke up. It has been seven races since Verstappen last won a Grand Prix, his longest dry run in the current ground effect era that began in 2022.

The last three races at Zandvoort, Monza, and Baku, have exposed significant issues for Red Bull as the team continued to grapple with the RB20's shortcomings. Perez, however, felt a sense of relief after his team finally recognized the car’s balance problems. When asked by the media in Singapore if Red Bull was now realizing that the RB20 has a fundamental problem, and that it should have listened to him earlier, the 34-year-old driver said:

“In a way, yes.

“To be fair, even some of the engineers after Monza came to me and did apologise, in a way, because now it’s a lot clearer, the issues that I was talking about.”

He added:

“But also, in all fairness, I’ve always had all the support from all the engineers.

“It was also the speculation around it and like people saying, you know, the problem was that I wasn’t focused enough on my racing or other things.

“But at the end of the day, I’m just happy that we found out the problem and we can focus on that and improve it.”

Perez's chances of securing the podium at Baku, where he has won the most races, took a hit after he made contact with Ferrari's Carlos Sainz in a battle for the third spot. While both drivers were forced to retire, the battle for a podium finish added to Perez's confidence. He said:

“Yeah, definitely.

“I think we got a good momentum in Baku. I think we definitely were in the mix for the win. We had the pace to win. So I think it’s all positive. I think there’s a lot of positives to take from that weekend. We had the pace to do so.

“I think now we have closed up the gap, and hopefully we can confirm that in a different track and different layout. And if we are able to do that, I think our season can still get back on track.”